Health Secretary Matt Hancock has announced that thousands of volunteers will receive a booster coronavirus vaccine in a newly launched clinical trial.
The Cov-Boost study, led by University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, is being supported by £19.3 million of government funding through the Vaccines Taskforce. It will trial seven vaccines and will be the first in the world to provide vital data on the impact of a third dose on patients’ immune responses.
The study will take place at 16 NIHR-supported sites across England, and also within Health and Care Research Wales and NHS Research Scotland sites. It will include a total of 2,886 patients and participants are to begin being vaccinated from early June.
All participants will be monitored throughout the study for any side effects and will have bloods taken to measure their immune responses at days 28, 84, 308 and 365, with a small number having additional blood tests at other times. The initial findings, expected in September, will help inform decisions by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation on plans for a booster programme from autumn this year, ensuring the country’s most vulnerable are given the strongest possible protection over the winter period
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “The UK vaccination programme has been a phenomenal national effort, with seven in 10 UK adults now having had their first Covid-19 jab. It is vital that we continue to support the world-renowned British research sector that has contributed to its success.
“We will do everything we can to future-proof this country from pandemics and other threats to our health security, and the data from this world-first clinical trial will help shape the plans for our booster programme later this year. I urge everyone who has had both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, and is eligible, to sign up for this study and play a part in protecting the most vulnerable people in this country and around the world for months and years to come.”
The Health Secretary has also announced that the 2021 G7 Health Ministers’ Meeting will be held in-person at Oxford University on 3-4 June.
